Love it or hate it: Residents get another week to sound off on Stony Plain Road's future

The traffic intersection at 149 Street will soon be looking a lot different with the addition of the Valley Line West LRT, with the possibility of one-way traffic westbound on Stony Plain Road between 149 and 156 Streets.Ed Kaiser / Postmedia, file

West Edmonton residents are concerned their voices aren’t being heard on the fate of Stony Plain Road after a technical glitch stymied some people’s attempts to weigh in on converting the busy street to one-way traffic.

The city shared five possible design options for Stony Plain Road — four of them converting the thoroughfare to one-way traffic — at a public meeting on July 26 focused on making room for the future Valley Line West LRT.

Officials made an online form available for residents unable to attend, but Irene Blain, president of the West Jasper-Sherwood Community League, said she had been trying to get in touch with the city since Monday after hearing from several concerned residents the electronic submission wasn’t working for them.

“It’s concerning,” Blain said. “There’s a lot of people who weren’t able to attend and wanted to leave their commentary.”

On Wednesday, city officials said they created a more accessible Google Doc form after learning about the problem. City spokeswoman Jennifer Villeneuve said the city will extend the deadline to Aug. 10 and promote the changes on social media.

This change on Wednesday was the first communication Blain said she has heard from the city since Monday when she tried to address the issue.

Coun. Andrew Knack, who represents the area, said the road’s redesign will deeply impact residents and commuters. “It’s important to do this discussion to hear feedback and understand all of the considerations,” he said.

At the outset of the project, Knack said the idea of making a portion of Stony Plain Road one-way wasn’t even on his radar. Now, it is at the forefront of the possible new designs.

After hearing from the public previously, LRT planners came forward with four possible one-way arrangements between 149 Street and 156 Street. They are:

A “split,” with the LRT running down the middle of the road with two westbound lanes on either side;

Two westbound through lanes on the north side of the road with the LRT running along the south side of the road;

Two westbound lanes, one through and one with left turns at 151 and 153 Streets, with the LRT running on the south side;

One lane westbound and wider sidewalks on both sides of the street, with LRT aligned on the south side.

Planners are expected to present recommendations to city council in the fall.